Wasn’t I the Female Lead of a Regret Novel? [Novel] Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Vendia wanted to ask, but a jail cell wasn't exactly the right place for that
kind of conversation, so she bit her tongue.

“Young Master!”

At that moment, yet another voice thundered through the police station.

The man who burst through the doors was middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper hair
and a sharp suit. He looked around with a frantic, tearful expression until his
gaze locked onto a single spot.

“Young Master! What on earth has happened?! A murder investigation?!”

He sprinted toward them faster than anyone else in the room. He headed straight
for the bars.

“A holding cell?! Do you have any idea who you’ve locked up?!”

The middle-aged man glared at the officers.

“This is Lord Marlon Shonfleck, the heir to the Shonfleck Duchy! How dare you
treat him like a criminal? Are you prepared to handle the consequences of this?!
Let him out this instant!”

“…Huh?”

Startled by the familiar name, Vendia let out a confused noise.

The Shonfleck family? She knew he had been hiding his identity, but… Shonfleck?

“Haa…”

While Vendia’s jaw hung open, Ron, or Marlon, rested his forehead against the
bars, looking utterly exasperated and nursing a headache.

Furthermore, Yulije looked as though she had already known, and even Sasha
seemed completely unfazed.

“Baum, stop it.”

“Provide the clear legal grounds for naming our Young Master as a suspect! If
even a single part of this is found to be unjust, we will lodge a formal protest
in the name of the Shonfleck family!”

“I said stop!”

Ron finally shouted, his face flushed with anger.

Baum, who had been huffing and pointing fingers at the police, immediately shut
his mouth and began to watch Ron’s mood.

However, the wave had already swept through the station. Murmurs erupted from
every corner.

“The Shonfleck Duchy…?”

“Isn't that the ‘Golden Family,’ the wealthiest in the Empire?”

None of them had ever seen Marlon Shonfleck in person before. Part of the reason
was that the Shonfleck estate was in the capital, but there was a bigger reason.
The children of the Shonfleck Duke rarely appeared in public.

Unlike the previous Duke of Calvermer and Denross Calvermer, who appeared in the
papers frequently, only the Duke of Shonfleck’s face was ever publicized. Rumor
had it they hated the spotlight and avoided outside activities.

But Vendia, having heard their family circumstances, knew better. They had
simply been living in the countryside, away from the Duke.

Shonfleck. It was a name everyone knew. There were two main pillars of the
nobility in the Empire: the Calvermer Duchy and the Shonfleck Duchy. They were
the two carriages pulling the Empire. They were the royalty above the nobility.

In particular, the Shonfleck family owned the mines that produced mana stones,
making them the primary fuel suppliers for the Empire. Because of this, the
Shonflecks always maintained a friendly relationship with the Magic Tower.

‘Ah, so that’s why his grandfather was riding an automated carriage that hasn't
even hit the market yet.’

Everything was finally clicking into place for Vendia.

“…”

Ron glanced sideways. Seeing Vendia’s mouth hanging open, it was clear she had
put the pieces together. Then again, it was impossible not to, given how loudly
Baum had been shouting.

In a single moment, all his efforts to stay under the radar had gone up in
smoke.

“My deepest apologies. My men failed to recognize the Young Duke and committed a
grave discourtesy.”

A man suddenly rushed forward and bowed deeply to Ron.

“Gasp! Chief!”

The startled officers all scrambled to their feet. Judging by their reactions,
this was the Chief of Police.

“What are you all doing?! Release the Young Duke immediately!”

Chief Evan Vista roared at his subordinates. The stunned officers hurriedly
unlocked the cell door.

“I am so sorry. Please, come out.”

The Chief spoke with extreme deference to Ron. Ron bit his lip as he stood up,
his eyes immediately finding Vendia.

She said nothing. In fact, she wasn't even looking at him.

“I am Evan Vista, the Chief of Police. Had I known, this never would have
happened. My men made a mistake in their haste. Please, find it in your heart to
forgive us.”

As Ron stepped out, the rigid Chief bowed his head in apology. When the Chief
bowed, his subordinates had no choice but to follow. Every officer in the
station lowered their heads toward Ron.

“Hah… Sasha. Did you know?” Vendia asked, staring at the scene in disbelief.

“No?”

“Then why aren't you surprised?”

“Well, you did say before that Lord Ron was probably a noble, Lady Dia.”

That’s true, but there are nobles, and then there are SHONFLECKS! I didn’t think
he’d be one of them!

“What about you, Lady Yulije?”

“I’d seen him once before, so I knew.”

It really was just me. I’m the only one standing here in shock.

“If something like this ever happens again, we will..!”

“I was just being questioned, so stop making a scene,” Ron interrupted as Baum
started to threaten the officers again.

“Again, our apologies. You are free to return home immediately. Everyone! Escort
the Young Duke out!”

At the Chief’s command, the officers scrambled to see him off. Watching their
attitudes flip like a pancake was nothing short of a farce.

“I’m not the Young Duke. And you, Chief. I’d like a word with you in private.”

Ron glanced back at Vendia in the cell as he spoke to the Chief.

“Pardon? Ah, yes, yes! Of course! Right this way!”

The Chief answered instantly and led him away. The officers who had been hoping
to score points with the heir returned to their desks, looking disappointed.

“Sister, Things might end faster than I thought.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Lord Marlon is going to help you.”

Vendia scowled at Yulije’s words as if she’d just heard the most ridiculous
thing in the world.

“Why would Ron help me?”

“Because obviously right now-…!”

“My daughter! Give me back my daughter!”

Yulije’s voice was drowned out by another.

“You murderer! Give me back my daughter!”

A middle-aged woman burst into the station and charged toward Vendia’s cell.

“Ma’am, you can’t do this here.”

“Murderer! Give her back!”

The officers reached out to restrain her, but the woman was surprisingly nimble.
She ducked past them, grabbed the bars of Vendia’s cell, and began to shriek.
Her face was streaked with tears.

It was Cecilia’s mother, the woman who had appeared when they found the body.

“Hey! Who are you calling a murderer?! Stop accusing an innocent person!” Yulije
barked.

“You killed her! You…!”

Yulije stepped in to pull the woman away from the bars she was shaking with
enough force to tear them down, but it was no use.

Vendia looked at Cecilia’s mother silently. She knew she was innocent, but what
mother could maintain her sanity in the face of her child’s death? That thought
was there, but…

“Aaaagh! Hey! Let go!”

Vendia screamed. A hand had snaked through the bars and grabbed a fistful of her
hair.

****

“Well… we truly wish to comply, but we have the testimony of the victim’s
family, and we do need to perform a basic investigation…”

The Chief was groveling before Ron. They were standing in a hallway; Ron had
refused to go to a formal office, preferring a quick conversation in the
corridor. He had sent Baum off to stand at a distance.

“So the answer is no?”

“It’s not that it’s a ‘no,’ but we have statements on record and procedures to
follow. I ask for your understanding. However, if the evidence is insufficient,
we will release her exactly forty-eight hours from the time of arrest!”

The Chief bowed pleadingly, but Ron’s brow arched in dissatisfaction. In other
words, Ron was out, but Vendia had to serve the full forty-eight hours.

“Do you really think it makes sense for us to be suspects just because we found
a body that had been dead for quite some time?”

“Yes, yes! You are absolutely right. It makes no sense at all. But the victim’s
mother is adamantly insisting that the woman named Dia is the culprit… our hands
are tied.”

“…”

Ron’s eyes turned cold. It was strange. Everything was far too strange. The
mother appearing so suddenly, and the fact that she was framing Vendia so
aggressively… none of it sat right.

“Um… Young Duke. There is one way.”

“What is it?”

“If you were to personally guarantee this woman’s innocence, then I could assist in
having her released immediately.”

The Chief’s eyes glittered with opportunism. He intended to use the Shonfleck
family as a shield in case something went wrong later.

Ron was silent for a moment. He wasn't hesitating because he doubted her
innocence. He had never once suspected her. The woman he knew was incapable of
such a thing. Besides, she loved rental income too much to kill a tenant. He
also knew very well that the current circumstances were being manipulated to
frame her.

The reason he hesitated was something else.

He questioned himself. Why was he doing this? If the evidence was insufficient,
she’d be out in forty-eight hours anyway. Why bother?

It was then that a man walked past the distracted Ron.

“Why is that bastard here…?”

Ron’s eyes widened. He had only seen the man’s profile for a split second, but
he recognized him instantly.